CT scanning typically involves a radiation source and a matching detector rotating about a recumbent patient. In such so-called “rotating patient” computed tomography (CT) scanners, the patient is positioned in an upright position between an x-ray source and a bank of x-ray detectors, the source and detectors being fixed relative to one another. The patient is rotated through small incremental angles about a vertical rotation axis as x-rays are passed from the source through the patient to the detectors. For any given focal spot and detector position, a view or projection is obtained which provides data about a given two-dimensional slice of the patient's anatomy within a horizontal scan plane. The patient is then rotated to a new angular position for another view in the same horizontal scan plane. After a desired number of views are obtained in a given horizontal scan plane, the x-ray source and detectors are moved together, relative to the patient, along a vertical translation axis to a new horizontal scan plane to obtain image information about the patient in that plane. A series of such horizontal scans may be taken and the data reconstructed to provide an image of the patient's anatomy.
The following background is useful in understanding the concepts and terminology of this art (particularly the concepts of helical source trajectory and cone beams):
In at least one known CT imaging system configuration, an x-ray source projects a fan-shaped beam which is collimated to lie within an X-Y plane of a Cartesian coordinate system, generally referred to as the “imaging plane”. The x-ray beam passes through the object being imaged, such as a patient. The beam, after being attenuated by the object, impinges upon an array of radiation detectors. The intensity of the attenuated beam radiation received at the detector array is dependent upon the attenuation of the x-ray beam by the object. Each detector element of the array produces a separate electrical signal that is a measurement of the beam attenuation at the detector location. The attenuation measurements from all the detectors are acquired separately to produce a transmission profile.
In other known CT systems, the x-ray source and the detector array are rotated with a gantry within the imaging plane and around the object to be imaged so that the angle at which the x-ray beam intersects the object constantly changes. A group of x ray attenuation measurements, i.e., projection data, from the detector array at one gantry angle is referred to as a “view”. A “scan” of the object comprises a set of views made at different gantry angles, or view angles, during one revolution of the x-ray source and detector. In an axial scan, the projection data is processed to construct an image that corresponds to a two dimensional slice taken through the object.
One method for reconstructing an image from a set of projection data is referred to in the art as the filtered back-projection technique. This process converts the attenuation measurements from a scan into integers called “CT numbers” or “Hounsfield units”, which can be used to control the brightness of a corresponding pixel on a cathode ray tube display.
The two-dimensional methods discussed above can reconstruct a slice of the measured object. If a volume segment needs to be reconstructed, the complete procedure can be performed slice-by-slice with a small movement of the object or of the source-detector system between each slice.
A more efficient acquisition setup for volumetric CT uses a two-dimensional detector. The rays then form a cone with its base on the detector and its apex on the source. An x-ray source naturally produces a cone of rays, so cone-beam acquisition not only increases the scanning speed, but also makes better use of the emitted rays otherwise wasted by collimation.
Modern CT scanners are rapidly moving from fan-beam towards cone-beam geometry. Current micro-CT scanners are already in cone-beam geometry. Half-scan CT algorithms are advantageous in terms of temporal resolution and are widely used in fan-beam and cone-beam geometry.
A helical source trajectory is natural for volume scanning of long objects. A continuously translated object and a rotating source-detector system yield a helical source trajectory around the object. Helical scanning has been used for many years with one-dimensional detectors and has now been extended for use with multi-row detectors with potential applications for two-dimensional detectors in the medical imaging field.